March 2018

Dear Parents/Guardians: It was a pleasure to see so many of you at our parent/teacher conferences on February 13 and 15. I hope that the meetings served as an opportunity to celebrate your children’s strengths and to collaborate with their teachers on strategies for future successes. I encourage you to use the agenda, or a quick phone call, as a means of keeping up to date on your children’s progress during Term 2. Although your first contact should be with your child’s teacher, do not hesitate to contact me. It is always my pleasure to hear from parents and to assist as best I can. During the month of March, we continue our Lenten journey, focusing on turning ourselves toward God and His message of love. Our practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us to avoid the distractions that keep us from knowing our God and trying to do His will. Congratulations to Rachel, one of our Gr. 8 students, who is serving as a page at the Ontario Legislature for a month! We look forward to hearing about her experiences. Our next CSPC meeting is scheduled for March 6 at 7p.m. in our school library. As always, all parents are cordially invited to attend. Sincerely, R. Leone

St. Cyril Catholic School News Our Virtue for March is Forgiveness

“Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-

seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22)

St. Cyril Catholic School

18 Kempford Blvd. Toronto, M2N 2B9

Tel: 416-393-5270

Fax: 416-393-5119

Principal: Rocchina Leone Superintendent: Peter Aguiar

416-222-8282 Ext.2267

Trustee: Maria Rizzo 416-512-3405

Parish: Fr. Patrick O’Dea St. Edward the Confessor

75 Churchill 416-221-9131

CSAC Co-Chairs: Philip Doyle/Raphael Leong

CPIC (Parent Engagement--TCDSB) www.tcdsb.org/cpic OAPCE Toronto (Provincial Voice for Parents) www.tcdsb.org/oapce-toronto Enrollment: 320 students

Hours of operation:

Office Hours 8:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.

School Hours 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Lunch hour:

11:45- 12:45 p.m.

NEW REGISTRANTS WELCOME: Call 416-393-5270 or the TCDSB Admissions Department at 416-

222-8282, ext. 2383.

For general information about the Toronto Catholic District

School Board, please visit the website at www.tcdsb.org.

Stay in touch with the latest news throughout the school year:

Follow @TCDSB on Twitter

Reflection and Prayer for March Forgiveness is a mark of the followers of Jesus. It is our great strength! Being able to forgive makes our hearts lighter and leads to deeper understanding among people. It also leads to knowledge about ourselves. When we forgive others, we begin to recognize our great need to work for and with Christ to bring peace.

Let us pray God of infinite power, grant us a little of your strength so that we can forgive with joy, so that our love for others may be sincere, and so that our hearts may be full of your loving kindness. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who forgave even those who made him suffer and die. Amen Gr. 5 and 6 students at the CEC! Thank you to the students and parents that joined us on February 22 at the board office to lead the prayer and anthem. Our students received many compliments for their enthusiasm! A special thank you to Mrs. Delfino for preparing and accompanying our students.

This year, ShareLife Week will be celebrated during the week of March 18-23. As we did last year, we invite everyone to participate in a Board-wide Civvies Day on Friday, March 23, 2018 to raise funds for the ShareLife campaign. Your donation of a loonie or a toonie will go a long way to supporting youth, the elderly, the marginalized and the vulnerable.

St. Cyril Catholic School Parent Council News (CSPC) Our next CSPC meeting will be on March 6 at 7 p.m. in the library. All parents are welcome. Many thanks to our CSPC for sponsoring our Shrove Tuesday pancakes and for the hot chocolate and cookies that made our Carnaval activities very enjoyable! Holy Thursday Presentation – March 29 The grade 3 students from Mlle. Ogokeh’s class will be presenting the Stations of the Cross and reflection on March 29th in the gym for the celebration of Holy Week at. St. Cyril. There will be two sessions available that day: Session 1: 9:30 am Session 2: 11:00 am. Please join us, if you can.

Joyeuse St Valentin from Mme Ghabour‘s & Mme Julien’s class. Our ELP group has enjoyed learning about symmetry while the children used their hands to paint the beautiful Flamingo and they also discovered the symmetry when they folded the heart. They have also learned the vocabulary related to this occasion and the Family day (e.g., un Coeur / heart, j’aime ma famille/ I love my family, le flamingo dit : je t’aime …They have also reviewed the primary colors and they mixed red and the white to create pink / rose.

Celebrating 100 Day! The grade two students celebrated their 100th Day of School on Feb 12th in the morning. We had a few fun activities planned for this day to celebrate our 100th day and each student dressed up in costume like they were 100 years old and brought in a project to present to the class. They brought in any items of their choice and placed them inside a Ziploc bag with a label on the outside of the bag. For example: 100 legos, 100 stickers, 100 shells, 100 pasta pieces, 100 bottle caps, etc. Students wore fake glasses, pearl necklaces, lace clothing, suspenders, bow ties/ties, old school sweaters, canes, wigs, etc. Each student was called upon to present their 100’s day items in their Ziploc bag. They were asked to explain what they collected and they were asked to count to 100 by 1’s, 5’s or 10’s (their choice). Mme Falsarella OUR MORNING PRAYER! As part of the gr. 1 religion program, the students have learned a beautiful prayer that we say each day in religion class. We ask Jesus to help us learn and think and pray. The students are truly examples of having Jesus in their lives in all that they do as they continue to grow in Faith and grow in Christ. Mrs. Wales - Gr. 1 Religion Teacher

News from Scientists in the School

On Wednesday, February 7th, Mme Pierini’s Grade One class welcomed Scientist Fariba into their classroom. The students took part in an exciting workshop about Energy. Each group of students rotated through 5 different hands-on centres where they learned about the different forms and uses of energy. We thank our parent volunteers and Grade 8 student, Rachel, for helping us out that day. A big thank you also goes out to our CSPC for paying for

this excellent opportunity for hands-on learning in the classroom! Merci, Mme Pierini et sa classe

Ex Libris

During the last few months we’ve added some beautiful new books to the library in both English and French. We were lucky enough to get a number of freebies from both the OLA Superconference (Ontario Library Association) in January, and the Library Technician Professional Development Day in February. There will also be some new prints added to the wall by Canadian illustrators. It’s wonderful to be able to offer a greater choice to our students

Ms. Moore

Girls’ Volleyball Team!

Congratulations to: Elise(captain), Ava, Cielle, Presley, Ejiro, Jayce, Marley, Rebecca, Sofia- Ellena, Audrey, Kiara and Chelsea!

Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes

by: Elenor Coerr

We just finished reading this beautiful novel. It’s about a twelve year old Japanese girl named Sadako. She’s the star of her school’s running team. After one particular race, Sadako starts to get dizzy spells and goes to the hospital. They find out that Sadako has cancer, a result of the atom bomb that was dropped on her city (Hiroshima) when she was just an infant. Her friend, Chizuko, goes to visit Sadako in the hospital and she has a present for her -paper and scissors. Chizuko tells Sadako of an old Japanese legend. The legend says that if she makes 1000 paper cranes the gods will grant her a wish and make her healthy again. Sadako begins to make lots of cranes. Sadako and her friends make 644 paper cranes before she dies.

Although she loses her battle with cancer, children all over the world still make paper cranes to remember her, so in a way her wish came true…..she did make 1000 paper cranes.

Sadako Sasaki died on October 25, 1955. Her classmates folded 356 more paper cranes so that one thousand paper cranes were buried with her.

Although this novel is sad in many parts, (we all shed a few tears at the end of the book) it is a story of HOPE. The hope of Sadako and all of us is that war is ALWAYS WRONG and there is always hope for a bright future for everyone.

After we finished the novel, our class will make paper cranes!

Mrs. Delfino and Students from the Grade 4 English Class

Spaghetti Marshmallow Challenge

A couple weeks ago, our class took part in a team challenge called “The Spaghetti Marshmallow Challenge.” This challenge involved working as a team to build the tallest tower out of only 2 meters of tape, 20 marshmallows and 20 sticks of spaghetti. The highest tower built was 98cm tall and the shortest was 32cm tall. It was hard to work with little supplies but we persevered. This was a very enjoyable and fun team building challenge that helped us improve our teamwork skills. We hope to have more team building challenges. Next up, we

are individually, building bridges with limited supplies. We will test them on March 1st.

Ava Carlucci & Naomi Bhalla, Grade 7

Grade 8 - Science

We are presently studying the Cells unit in our Grade 8 science class. To further our understanding of cell structures we did research on cell mutations. We learned that a cell mutation is a permanent transformation in the DNA sequence (damages the DNA which cannot be repaired.) Further, we learned that cell mutations can lead to diseases and disorders in the human body, such as cancers, Down syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and many more. After researching, we demonstrated our learning by creating and presenting a PowerPoint to our peers. In conclusion, we learned how cell mutation affects the body and can't wait to further our knowledge about cells next year in grade 9!

By: Joshua and Philip, Grade 8

Thank you to CSAC for sponsoring our Scientist in the School Workshop. On February 24, the Grade 7 class experienced a Scientists in the School Workshop, "Close Encounters of a Chemical Kind." During this entertaining workshop, we did experimental planning and observations about what makes vitamin C tablets effervescent, how much vitamin C is in a tablet; how iodine reacts with vitamin C and how dissolving rates differ with different temperatures of water. We worked with many types of materials like ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, cornstarch and sodium bicarbonate to cause different chemical

reactions when making solutions. We also did many other chemical experiments. Overall, this was an intriguing and educational workshop. By: Olivia Katana and Jeri-Lynn Tee, Grade 7

Grade 8 English

The grade 8 class read either an autobiography/biography book on a famous person. Then we had to write a report and role play as that person in a class presentation. We were very entertained by some very famous people from David Bowie, Madonna, Marion Blumenthal- Holocaust survivor, and even former President Obama, and many more. We had so much fun and learned a lot about the many different people we read about.

Karina, Grade 8

On va célébrer le carnaval!

Les élèves de la 3eme année de Mlle.Ogokeh ont fait un magnifique travail dans leur présentation de la danse du carnaval et pour commémorer la culture noire africaine. La danse présentée venait de la culture haïtienne et ils ont dansé au son de la musique “Carnaval Chocolat”. Mlle Ogokeh

Thank you, parents, for the delicious pancakes !

Once again our CSPC and parent volunteers dedicated time to prepare and serve pancakes to our school community! A special thank you to Mrs. Jana Seymour for organizing the day perfectly! Crazy Tuques Day at St. Cyril’s! Our carnaval activities were a big success, particularly Crazy Tuques Day. Many thanks to the committee for all of their planning.

Skating and Hockey The winter activities come to a close as we head for the March Break, but our students have certainly enjoyed them! Thank you, as always, to Mrs. Rankin for including hot chocolate in the fun!

Exploring Math at Home Math Questions: Grade 1-2 Katie takes seventy five minutes to finish her homework. If she starts at 5:00 in the evening, when will she finish her homework?

5:45

6:45

6:15

3:45

Grade 3-4 Kartik packed 4805 apples equally into many boxes. After he packed them, there were no apples left to be packed. Which of these could represent the number of boxes that Kartik used to pack the apples?

10

5

7

6

Grade 5/6 Which is a better buy? 3 pack of nuts for $10.50 or 11 pack of nuts for $35.75?

3 pack of nuts for $10.50

11 pack of nuts for $35.75

Grade 7/8 A farm of 250 square kilometer is divided into 5 equal parts. Length of each part is greater than the width by 2 km. Which algebraic expression will you use to solve this question?

w+2=25

w(w+2)=50

w.w+2=50

w(w+2)+50=0

Allez l'équipe verte!

The ECO TEAM is pleased to announce St. Cyril will

be implementing a Sibling List for all school

correspondence in an effort to reduce paper

consumption. For families whose children have

siblings attending St. Cyril, all future school

correspondence will be sent home with ONLY the

eldest child. This initiative will have a significant

impact on our office paper consumption reducing

consumption by almost a third. We thank you in

advance for supporting our team and spreading

some green. You can continue to access the

newsletter electronically on the school’s website.

Monthly Update from the Board March 2018

TCDSB SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR 2018-2019 APPROVED Number of school days 194

Number of Professional Activity Days 7

Labour Day September 3, 2018

First Instructional Day September 4, 2018

Thanksgiving Day October 8, 2018

Christmas Break December 24, 2018–January 4, 2019

Start of second semester for secondary schools February 4, 2019

Family Day February 18, 2019

Mid-Winter Break March 11–15, 2019

Good Friday April 19, 2019

Easter Monday April 22, 2019

Victoria Day May 20, 2019

Last day of classes for elementary students June 27, 2019

Seven (7) Professional Activity (PA) Days for ELEMENTARY schools:

October 5, 2018 Provincial Education Priorities/Faith Development

November 16, 2018 Parent-Teacher Conferences

December 7, 2018 Provincial Education Priorities

January 18, 2019 Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting

February 15, 2019 Parent-Teacher Conferences

June 7, 2019 Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting

June 28, 2019 Provincial Education Priorities

*Seven (7) Professional Activity (PA) Days for SECONDARY schools:

October 5, 2018

November 16, 2018

December 7, 2018

February 15, 2019

June 26, 27, 28, 2019

- Three PA days devoted to Provincial Education Priorities and supporting Article 19 of the Collective Agreement.

- One PA day devoted to Faith Development.

- One PA day devoted to numeracy across the curriculum.

- The remaining two PA days will be devoted to system priorities, annual learning plans and local goals articulated in the School

Learning Improvement Plans.

* Secondary schools, in consultation with their Local School Staffing Advisory Committee, may schedule a Professional Activity Day

to align with the day following one of the Parent-Teacher Interview nights.

Upcoming Board-wide Consultations

The Board is interested in your opinion and views. All TCDSB employees, Catholic Stakeholders, including parents, students and the

general public are encouraged to participate in upcoming consultations the following issues. Further details and online surveys will be

posted on the Board website at www.tcdsb.org

WHISTLEBLOWER POLICY (A.39)

The Board of Trustees has approved this new policy for consultation. This “Whistleblower” policy supports the TCDSB’s

commitment to provide a framework for the disclosure and investigation of alleged wrongdoing. Any individual or employee in the

TCDSB who has knowledge of an occurrence of a wrongdoing, or has reason to suspect that a wrongdoing has occurred, has the right

and obligation to report the occurrence using the channels of reporting provided under the various policies, procedures, and collective

agreements. Under the new policy, an individual or employee may choose to report the incident to a third party whistleblower hotline.

The new policy is committed to safeguarding the public interest and trust in public educations and sets out conditions to ensure those

who make disclosures of such information are free to do so without reprisal or threat of reprisal.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION FOR 2018-2019 TCDSB BUDGET

The Board’s annual budget consultation process will begin at the end of March 2018. The public consultation is an important planning

tool to ensure the development of an effective and balanced budget that supports the academic achievement of our students.

Under the Education Act (Section 232), the Board is required to prepare and submit a budget to the Ministry of Education outlining

estimates of its revenues and expenses for the upcoming 2018-2019 academic year by end of June 2018. Stay tuned for more details

and information on our school and Board website.

Let’s Help Catholic Charities by Supporting ShareLife

Last year, as our pastoral plan called us to celebrate the “Year of the Parish”, our students, staff and their families across the Board

were able to increase TCDSB’s participation from 20% of our schools supporting ShareLife to 85% participation. Thank you! This

short video here highlights the impact our board has had in our local community.

2017-18 marks the "Year of School." It is an opportunity to celebrate our school communities and to celebrate in the lives of our

students. Catholic education is built on the partnership among our families, parishes and schools, and during the Year of the School

we will truly celebrate that foundation. During this Lenten season, and throughout the coming months, we invite our staff and our

school communities to once again consider supporting the important work of ShareLife as it continues to “work wonders” in our own

community and around the world.

ShareLife’s mission is to “Live the Gospel by providing for those in need” This is done through their support of many diverse Catholic

social service agencies here in the GTA and beyond.

This year, ShareLife Week will be celebrated the week of March 18-23. As we did last year, we invite everyone to participate in a

Board-wide Civvies Day on Friday, March 23, 2018 to raise funds for the ShareLife campaign. Your donation of a loonie or a

toonie will go a long way to supporting youth, the elderly, the marginalized and the vulnerable.

We thank everyone in the TCDSB community for all that they do throughout the year to help others—giving of their time and their

resources to make a difference. We applaud those efforts, and take great pride in the commitment to living our Catholic values and

putting faith into action.

Important Information for Parents:

Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grant Applications Now Open

Opportunity for Catholic School Parent Councils to receive funds to support parent engagement projects. Details online:

https://www.tcdsb.org/FORPARENTS/CSPC/Pages/pro-grant.aspx

CPIC/OAPCE Parent Summit—Mark Your Calendars

Helping Parents Get to Know

Saturday, May 5th, 2018 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At the Catholic Education Centre, 80 Sheppard Avenue East

More details to come: https://www.tcdsb.org/FORPARENTS/ParentInvolvement/News-and-Events/Pages/cpic-parent-

conference.aspx

Ministry of Education Consultation: A New Vision for Student Transportation

Consultation for families relying on school bus transportation is open until March 29, 2018

https://www.tcdsb.org/programsservices/boardservices/studenttransportation/pages/bus-transportation-consultation.aspx

Mental Health Newsletter for March

Featuring “Mental Health Benefits of Prayer” and “Making Room for Our Negative Feelings Can Actually Make Us Happier” and

more.

Produced by the TCDSB Mental Health Department.

https://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/SpecialEducation/mhs/newsletters/March%20Mental%20Health%20newsletter%202018.pdf